Safety measures are known for a motor vehicle to drive into and out of a parking space, for example. Sensors which are accommodated in the bodywork of the vehicle determine with the aid of an evaluation and/or control electronics unit the distance to the nearest object and convert this information into a visual and/or audible signal. The driver of the vehicle is in this way warned of possible obstacles.
A monitoring device for motor vehicles is known from DE 100 50 002 A1. This monitoring device features a display unit in the driver's field of vision in order to display the picture taken with the video camera. These video cameras are arranged laterally in the front and/or rear area of the vehicle. They are either integrated into the headlamps or fitted in a position close to them, and cover a transfer range which extends over an angle range from 30° to 120° between a beam running parallel to the longitudinal axis and directed to the front or rear respectively in the horizontal plane.
The video cameras themselves may be mounted and/or driven independently of one another, in pairs, or jointly.
A disadvantage with the systems known hitherto is that the monitoring devices are in most cases mounted in the comer impact areas of the vehicles, which are expensive to repair and are therefore inadequately protected. Because the comer area of a motor vehicle is almost always involved if a vehicle suffers an accident, in particular in unforeseeable or unexpected situations, it is recommended that the monitoring device be integrated at another part of the vehicle bodywork. In addition to this, with the previously-known systems, four camera units are required, namely at all four comers of the vehicle, in order to provide an adequate coverage range in front of and behind the vehicle.